Good Friday

"The Son of God, utterly clean of all fault, nevertheless took upon himself the shame and reproach of our iniquities, and in return clothed us with his purity. It seems that Paul meant the same thing when he says of sin, 'He condemned sin in his flesh.' The Father destroyed the force of sin when the curse of sin was transferred to Christ's flesh.

"Here, then, is the meaning of this saying: Christ was offered to the Father in death as an expiatory sacrifice that when he discharged all satisfaction through his sacrifice, we might cease to be afraid of God's wrath. Now it is clear what the prophet's utterance means: 'The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.' That is, he who was about to cleanse the filth of those iniquities was covered with them by transferred imputation. The cross, to which he was nailed, was a symbol of this, as the apostle testifies: 'Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, when he became a curse for us. For it is written, "Cursed be every one who hangs upon a tree," that in Christ the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles.' Peter means the same thing when he teaches: 'He himself bore our sins ... on the tree' because from the very symbol of the curse we more clearly understand that the burden with which we had been oppressed was laid upon him. Yet we must not understand that he fell under a curse that overwhelmed him; rather - in taking the curse upon himself - he crushed, broke, and scattered its whole force. Hence faith apprehends an acquittal in the condemnation of Christ, a blessing in his curse.

"Paul with good reason, therefore, magnificently proclaims the triumph that Christ obatined for himself on the cross, as if the cross, which was full of shame, had been changed into a triumphal chariot! For he says that 'Christ nailed to the cross the written bond which stood against us ... and disarmed the principalities ... and made a public example of them.' And no wonder! For 'Christ ... through the eternal Spirit offered himself,' as another apostle testifies. From this comes the transmutation of nature. But that these things may take root firmly and deeply in our hearts, let us keep sacrifice and cleansing constantly in mind."

- John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, II.16.6